Gil David Correia and The Shameless

With Special Guest Appearances by:

Diane Blue

Ms. Blue is a soul-stirring vocalist, skillful harmonica player and a crowd-pleasing entertainer. Voted “Outstanding Female Singer” in The Blues Audience 2015 and 2011 Readers’ Polls, Ms. Blue is a soulful and sassy performer with a strong and energetic delivery, serving up her own spin on soul, blues and R&amp;B. Ms. Blue and her band won the 2010 Massachusetts Blues Challenge, earning the honor of competing at the 2011 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. She was nominated “Best Blues/R&amp;B Act” and “Best Female Vocalist” in 2007 by the Providence Phoenix and also nominated “Best Local Blues Act” by Motif Magazine in 2007.

Diane has played harmonica and/or sung with guitarist extraordinaire Ronnie Earl, as well as international performers Luther Guitar Jr. Johnson (former sideman for Muddy Waters), Big Jack Johnson (of Clarksdale, Mississippi) and Irma Thomas (the Soul Queen of New Orleans), among others. Ms. Blue tours in the U.S. and abroad as a featured performer, in addition to her duties with the Broadcasters.

Jerry Portnoy

Jerry Portnoy was born in 1943 and grew up in the blues-rich atmosphere of Chicago’s famous “Maxwell Street Market” during the golden age of Chicago Blues. He began his professional career in the late 60s and since that time has performed, live and on television, for millions of people around the world.

During a career that includes six years as a member of the fabled Muddy Waters Blues Band, another six as leader of the Legendary Blues Band, four years at the head of his own band The Streamliners, and another four as a featured member of the Eric Clapton Band, his touring schedule has carried him to every state in the union and twenty-eight foreign countries on six continents, with performances at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Smithsonian, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and at major jazz festivals worldwide, including the Newport Jazz Festival, the Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Warsaw International Jazz Jamboree, the Hawaii Pacific Jazz and Music Fair, and the Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France.

Jerry Portnoy has played on several Grammy Award-winning albums while recording with a wide variety of artists, and was a Grammy Award nominee in 1997 for his work with the Muddy Waters Tribute Band. Television credits include appearances on Saturday Night Live, Soundstage, MTV, VH1, and the Disney Channel, as well as writing and performing original music for Sesame Street. In addition, he has lectured at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and his definitive 3/CD instructional package, Jerry Portnoy’s Blues Harmonica Masterclass, is widely regarded as the premier teaching tool for those wishing to learn the instrument. Jerry Portnoy now makes his home outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Cheryl Arena

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, she began playing harmonica and immersing herself into the Blues in 1987. Boston was an inspiring place to be as she was surrounded by so many talented harmonica and horn players. Her earliest childhood memories relating to music were listening and singing along with her mother’s Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday records. Her true passion though was in learning to play an instrument so at age 8 her grandmother set her up with accordion lessons..not exactly what she had in mind, but it was a start and lead to playing other instruments like guitar and bass guitar, and eventually finding the one instrument that truly resonated with her…the harmonica.

The harmonica has brought her to many exotic places and afforded her a wealth of wonderful experiences! So whether it’s on a big festival stage fronting her own band, playing an acoustic duo in some cozy little wine bar, singing and playing with a 20 piece orchestra in Dallas TX, touring around Italy, being a side person in someone else’s band, giving harmonica lessons on Skype or teaching at Jon Gindick’s Jam camps, Cheryl’s beloved pocket pal is always close to her side ready for the next musical adventure!

Greg Piccolo

Perhaps best remembered for his 24-year stint with Rhode Island’s internationally renowned jump blues band Roomful of Blues, Greg Piccolo has followed his muse since his teenage years. He has played with many greats including Duke Robillard, Al Copley, Colin James, and Jimmie Vaughan. In addition to Roomful of Blues, he has played with The Rejects, The Variations, and Groupe.

His tone, sound and outlook are unchanged over the years, although these days he finds himself playing more ballads than before. It is still the sound and the feeling that drive him. And when he says, “Swing is closest to my heart” one has to stand back and look at what this man has done over the last forty years. In company with his Roomful compatriots. Greg Piccolo is one of the guys that reintroduced swing to America in a popular sense. The swing revival of the nineties would never have happened without Roomful of Blues pointing the way during the seventies and eighties.

James Montgomery

When blues legend James Montgomery plays the harmonica, he “brings it on home”. Whether it’s recording with Kid Rock, sitting in with Gregg Allman, or fronting his hot band of thirty years, Montgomery plays with authority. While growing up in Detroit he learned first-hand from the masters – James Cotton, John Lee Hooker, and Jr. Wells – at the legendary “Chessmate.”

Over the years, he’s carried on in the tradition and continues to be a vital presence in Blues as one of the most dynamic performers on the scene. Montgomery has toured with many major artists, including Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, the Allman Brothers, Steve Miller and others. He has jammed on stage with B.B.King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Jr. Wells, James Cotton, Charlie Daniels, Bonnie Raitt, Greg Allman, Laverne Baker, Patti LaBelle, and Peter Wolf among others, including an impromptu session with Mick Jagger at New York’s “Trax”.

Over the years Montgomery’s band has been a springboard for many musicians. Members of his band have included Billy Squire, Wayne Kramer (MC-5), Jeff Golub (Rod Stewart), Jim McCarty (Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels), Nunzio Signore Bo Diddley), Jeff Pevar (Ray Charles Orchestra, Crosby, Stills &amp; Nash), Bobby Chouinard (drummer with Ted Nugent, Squire and Robert Gordon), Jeff Levine (Joe Cocker), Aerosmith’s Tom Gambel, and many others

Kid Bangham

Kid Bangham first came to national prominence in the early eighties as the guitar player for “Sugar Ray and the Bluetones”. After releasing two CD’s and thrilling crowds throughout the United States and Europe with his emotionally wrenching and explosive guitar style, he was tapped by the world famous Sony/Epic recording artists, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, to record and tour extensively in 1990. Between 1996 and 2000 Kid paired with the great Detroit vocalist Amyl Justin and released two self-produced CD’s. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2001. Kid recently contributed a soulful guitar instrumental (once again on the Telarc label) entitled “Some Summer Day” on a heartfelt tribute to the late great Blues legend Charley Patton entitled “Down The Dirt Road”.

Today Kid Bangham is still actively writing and recording (almost none of which is pure Blues) and only performs occasionally as he is now more interested in developing ways for others to enjoy music and perform. A CD compilation is about to be released featuring a collection of unreleased live performances and recordings spanning 26 years. His authoritative guitar style and instrumental virtuosity continue to inspire and challenge musicians around the world.